1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to locking trigger guards for firearms that prevent a person from accessing the trigger of the firearm and firing the firearm.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Each year many accidents occur that involve a person unintentionally firing a gun. Many of these accidents involve children who do not understand the dangers created by guns. Many other accidents are caused by people playing with a loaded gun that they believe to be unloaded. Still other accidents are caused by loaded guns being dropped or the trigger of such guns being snagged on some protruding object. For all of these reasons, the prior art is replete with different types of trigger guard devices that attach to guns and prevent a person or object from accessing the trigger of that gun.
Trigger guards function by obstructing the area surrounding the trigger of the gun. By obstructing the area surrounding a trigger, a trigger becomes locked into place and cannot be moved. Most traditional trigger guards contain two opposing plates. One plate is placed on one side of the trigger while the second plate is placed on the opposite side of the trigger. A locking mechanism is then used to join the first plate to the second plate, thereby isolating the trigger. In the prior art, the locking mechanism used to join the two plates together is typically a key lock, an electronic lock or a combination lock. Combination lock trigger guards are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,627 to Klein, entitled Lock For Firearms With Trigger Blocking Function. Electronic lock trigger guards are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,971 to Fuller, entitled Trigger Guard Alarm For A Firearm. Lastly, key lock trigger guards are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,616,559 to Sobolewski, entitled Firearm Trigger Fitting On The Trigger Guard.
One feature that all of the above described prior art trigger guards share is that the trigger guards are mostly made of metal and have complex locking mechanisms. The primary reason such prior art trigger guards are made of metal is to make the trigger guard hard to remove even with a cutting tool. Since prior art trigger guards are mostly metal and contain complex locking mechanisms, such prior art trigger guards are typically expensive to manufacture.
In a gun shop or a sporting goods store, guns are commonly sold to customers. Prior to purchasing a gun, a customer typically likes to hold the gun to inspect its workings. When the gun is purchased, in some stores the gun is given to the customer to take to the cashier. Giving possession of a gun to an unknown customer can be dangerous to the employees of the gun store. Customers may carry ammunition with them into the store. Once in possession of the gun, a customer can load the gun and use that gun to rob that store.
One way to prevent this scenario from occurring is to give possession of a gun to a customer with a trigger guard in place. The customer would then not be able to operate the gun until the trigger guard is removed. With the trigger guard in place, a gun shop employee can allow a customer to handle and inspect the gun in relative safety.
The problem that exists is that a gun store would prefer to have its customers exit the gun store with the trigger guard in place on the gun that was just sold. If a typical prior art trigger guard were used, the price of the gun would have to be significantly increased to compensate for the cost of the trigger guard. Furthermore, the customer would have to be given the key or combination to the trigger guard so that the trigger guard can be removed. Giving the customer the means to remove the trigger guard in the gun store obviously defeats the original intended purpose of the trigger guard.
A need therefore exists in the art for an inexpensive trigger guard that can be applied to guns sold to the public. Such a trigger guard would enable customers to safely handle guns in gun stores and would not significantly add to the cost of the gun. A need also exists for a trigger guard that can be removed using common household tools, whereby the means to remove the trigger guard would not be available to a customer in a gun store but would be available in that person's home. These needs are met by the present invention as described and claimed below.